False Impressions

by Marianne Rice

  The interruption of the waiter and their steaming plates of fish, for her, and steak, for him, lightened their mood and helped relieve some of the pressure in his pants.

  “And you’ll never guess the theme he chose for his fifth birthday party.”

  “Iron Man. He told me the other night.”

  “Really? He didn’t tell me until this morning. Every minute it fluctuated between Batman and Star Wars. I wonder what made him completely settle on Iron Man.”

  Cole swallowed his steak and looked sheepishly and the flawless woman sitting across from him. “I may have nudged him a bit. I told him I had a Spider-Man, Batman and Star Wars party when I was little, but I never got to have an Iron Man …since he wasn’t popular twenty-five years ago.”

  “Well, you know what that means, don’t you?”

  “That I’m invited to the party?”

  “Yes.” She laughed. “And you can help me plan and decorate for it. I have no idea what to do for an Iron Man party other than buy plates and napkins with his face on it.”

  “I’ll help you out with one condition.”

  “Oh, really? And I wonder what that could be.”

  “Let’s get out of here, and I’ll show you exactly what I have in mind.”

  To his surprise, she stood up, gathered her purse and eyed him to follow suit. He barked out a too loud laugh, signaled for the check and handed over his credit card to the waiter.

  “You are chock full of surprises tonight, aren’t you?” he whispered in her ear while slipping her coat over her shoulders. After signing the check, he grabbed her hand and walked briskly to his truck.

  They fogged up the windows once again, this time without the eyewitnesses. The moans could have come from her or him, he wasn’t sure, but he pulled back and stared deep in to her innocent eyes.

  “Are you sure?” He didn’t need to elaborate. The past week had led up to this point, and he knew she was finally on the same page as him. Guilt washed over him. He should tell her about his past, about his obsession with alcohol. Even though he’d cleaned up his act, he still had a DUI under his belt. Alcohol killed her husband and daughter and he couldn’t do anything to bring them back or erase history, but dwelling on his past wasn’t healthy for him either. She’d appreciate him moving forward and staying sober. He had nothing to do with the accident that killed her family, yet the guilt stomped on his erection and crushed his mood.

  Cole had to tell her the truth before he stripped her naked.

  “Absolutely,” she said as she touched his bottom lip with her finger.

  And hell if her touch didn’t make him lose all sense of control. If he didn’t leave that very minute, he’d end up taking her in the front seat of his truck. For a moment he thought about Sam with her husband and their first time in the backseat of a truck. No, don’t go there. It surprised him that she shared that with him, and at first he was upset, but after having time to think about everything she told him, he realized how much she must trust and care about him to reveal something like that.

  Which was why he was determined to make this first time so much more special. He wondered if she’d think he was an idiot when she saw what he’d done with his bedroom. Never in his life had he set up a scene out of a romance novel for the simple act of sex—or for any reason. But he would do anything for Sam.

  Anything.

  *

  How embarrassing. Her shoulders shook, she pressed her lips tighter and she scrunched her stomach muscles. Four minutes of hiccups. Sam couldn’t control them. Holding her breath didn’t work. She’d stand on her head and drink a glass of water, but there wasn’t enough space in the front seat of Cole’s truck. Besides, they were almost to his house. Once she swallowed some fresh air, the hiccups were sure to stop.

  “Are you okay?” Cole asked.

  “Ye-us.” She hiccupped.

  He was kind enough not to laugh at her, but he did squeeze her hand. “You have the hiccups?”

  “Ye-us.”

  This time he did chuckle. “That’s a relief. I thought you were twitching at the thought of…being with me.”

  “Oh, I’m tw-itch-ing.” She hiccupped. “But that’s a good thing.” She tried to give him a sexy look, but the mini-convulsions that shook her body ruined the effect.

  “Damn, you’re cute. And sexy. And driving me insane. Why the hell did I pick a restaurant so far away?”

  The thirty-minute drive didn’t seem too long on the drive out, but going home was a different story. When they finally arrived at his house, she stayed in the truck while he ran over to her side and helped her out. He kept his hands around her waist and kissed her, but she hiccupped and ended up biting his lip.

  “Let’s go inside. Maybe a glass of water will stop them.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  But the glass of water didn’t help. She spilled half of it on her dress as she continued to hiccup even while drinking. Frustrated beyond control she let out a scream.

  And waited. Nothing happened except Cole’s lips stretching into a Cheshire grin, his dimple winking at her.

  “Back in business,” he said, wrapping his hands around her shoulders and bringing her body into his.

  But as soon as he lowered his mouth to hers, she started hiccupping again.

  “Oh, God. This is so embar-ass-ing.”

  “Shh. Don’t you worry about a thing.” He led her to the couch and pulled her down on to his lap. “I’m going to distract the hiccup right out of you.”

  Instead of kissing her mouth and risk getting bit again, he caressed her sensitive neck with his lips. Her body still jumped every twenty seconds—they’d timed them in the truck—but he didn’t miss a beat. He worked his mouth down to her collarbone, pulling her dress off one shoulder, and cupped her breasts. She shivered and grew hot and extremely bothered.

  She moaned. And hiccupped.

  Cole slid his hands to her back and attempted to unfasten her bra, but her jerky body movements made it difficult. Sam wanted to be skin to skin with him, but she couldn’t help concentrating on holding her breath, or clenching her abs, or altering her breathing techniques. Anything to stop her stupid convulsing.

  After his third attempt, Cole pulled back and rested his forehead on her chest. Soon his body was shaking too, but not from hiccups.

  He started laughing. And laughing. He picked his head up and she saw tears pool in his chocolate-colored eyes. Soon Sam started laughing too, the hiccups still interrupting.

  They were both holding on to their stomachs, literally rolling in laughter, and her damn relentless hiccups still did not stop.

  But her laughter did, and she started to cry. “Cole, I’m sorry. This is not what I had planned for tonight. I even bought new under” hic “wear” cup “and a new bra. Damn,” she swore, and she never swore. “My bra hooks in the front. That’s why you couldn’t open it. But I’m so dis-tracted with these stupid hiccups, and all I wanted was for you to make love to—to me.” She didn’t even bother wiping the tears from her eyes but let them roll down her cheeks. “I don’t want you to th-ink that I don’t want to be with you because I do!”

  Ever the gentleman, Cole held her face in his hands—or tried to, but her body kept jerking her face away—and wiped the tears with his thumbs. “I know, Sam. I know. And it will happen. I promise.”

  “But I want it to happen to-night!” She sounded like a whiny child, but she didn’t care.

  “I know. Me too, but we can do this another night. I promise.”

  She nodded and hiccupped.

  “It’s late. I’m going to take you home, but we’ll pick up where we left off. Promise.” Cole slid her dress back up, covering the breast she didn’t even realize was bare, and kissed her on the cheek.

  He didn’t tease her anymore, and she knew she’d disappointed him. She had to make it up to him—and to herself—but she wasn’t sure how.

  It wasn’t until she took two ibuprofen for her headache and lay down in her bed, al
one, that her hiccups finally went away.

  * * * *

  The tenants on Pine Street moved out the following week leaving their side of the duplex a mess, which kept Sam quite busy. The usual turn-around time for her to clean up a place was a day, two days tops. But it took an entire day to clean out the bathrooms and kitchen and another day to patch the holes in the walls. After painting the walls for another two days and shampooing the rugs on Friday, she was wiped.

  Cole managed to slip away from farm duties for one night but spent the entire evening playing Darth Vader with Levi. By the time her son went to bed, they were both too exhausted to do anything more than snuggle on the couch.

  Their one chance at alone time lost to the constraints on their lives. He kissed her extra-long before he left that night, knowing it would be nearly a week before they saw each other again.

  On Saturday morning Cole left for a long weekend getaway in Boston with his brothers and Walker that included a Celtics and a Bruins game. She was happy that he had a close relationship with his brothers like she did with hers. Sam wondered how the men would interact the following weekend at Levi’s birthday party. She wanted to keep it simple, but she asked Cole and Ms. Mimi to come, which led to asking the twins and Connor and Meg to join as well. Emma and Paige had offered to help, so they would be there too.

  Sam’s brothers were amazing, a bit over-protective, but wonderful with Levi. She counted on them to be male role models in Levi’s life and wondered if they’d think their toes were being stepped on by Cole.

  Who was she kidding? She wondered what they would think about the role Cole had in her life.

  Bright and early Saturday morning, she and Levi dressed in their work clothes and met Emma, Meg, and Paige at the farm. The women had promised to take care of the animals while the boys were away. Sam had learned how to muck stalls and what to feed the horses, chickens, and pigs, but the riding lessons she left to Emma and Paige.

  Levi loved feeding the chickens and gathering eggs, and Meg’s twins helped as well. Mostly the little ones were more work than help, so she offered to entertain them for a bit. After the morning chores were done, Sam sat on a stump and watched Emma give two ten-year-old girls riding lessons.

  “You should ask Cole to teach you to ride. You’ll love it,” Emma said after brushing down Lady. “There’s nothing quite as romantic as going riding with the man you love and having a picnic in the field, making love on a blanket under the stars…” Her eyes glazed over as she was obviously thinking about a romantic moment with Mason.

  “Forgive Emma,” Paige interrupted. “Her head has been stuck in the clouds ever since she and Mason hooked up.”

  “Oh, you’re one to talk, Miss My Life is a Fairytale.” Emma stuck her tongue out at Paige and Sam had to laugh.

  “I think you both have fairytale men in your lives. You’re very lucky to have found the perfect match.”

  “What about you?” Emma draped her arm around Sam’s shoulder. “You’ve been fortunate enough to find two wonderful men in your life.”

  “Yes, yes I have,” she said shyly.

  “Okay, girls. Let’s take advantage. Mom has the kids now, so let’s wash up and treat ourselves to lunch somewhere. Maybe even a pedicure. What do you say?”

  “That sounds perfect,” Paige and Sam agreed.

  An hour later they each sat in massage chairs as their feet soaked in a hot bath.

  “Definitely something sexy and spicy for you, Sam. With your fair hair and skin, the dark toes will pop. Picture Cole looking at your tiny feet with siren red polish on your toes peeping out from under the white sheets. He won’t be able to keep his hands off your—”

  “Emma!” Paige scolded. “You’re embarrassing her. Not everyone has sex on their mind every second of the day like you and Mason do.”

  “Ha! I know Cole, and I especially know the way he looks at Sam. Can you recall a time when he spent so much time with one girl? Or was so careful with one? He treats Sam like she’s a priceless piece of glass. He’s so in love with her. It’s obvious. He has told you he loves you, hasn’t he?”

  “Um, no. We haven’t actually…um, we…well, with Levi and work and family we…um…”

  Emma sat up in her recliner and dropped the magazine she was flipping through in her lap. “You two haven’t had sex yet?”

  “Emma!” Paige once again reprimanded. “It is none of your business.”

  “Oh, stop being a prude. You know you’re as shocked as I am,” she said to Paige. Turning back to Sam she said, “Wow. This is definitely a record. He’s in deeper than I thought.” Emma smiled and sat back in her chair.

  “What do you mean by that?” It was Sam’s turn to sit forward.

  “Cole’s the kind of guy who dates women simply as a means to an end. The end being sex. He’s never been a relationship kind of guy.”

  “Oh,” Sam said, leaning back in her chair, her heart falling into the pit in her stomach.

  “No, no, no!” Emma corrected. “That came out wrong. I don’t mean he doesn’t want a relationship with you. I mean he is in a relationship with you, whether you or he will admit it. I mean,” Emma sighed. “Nothing’s coming out as I want it to. I tend to process orally and stick my foot in my mouth at times. Okay, erase what I said before. What I’m trying to say is that Cole has never treated a woman the way he treats you. He’s never looked at another woman this way or cared for one like he cares for you. He obviously loves you, whether he’s said it or not is irrelevant. He may need some time to figure that out on his own.”

  “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you. It’s been really hard for me to move on since…my husband died five years ago. Cole is the first man I’ve dated since…well, Adam was the only man I ever dated before, so that makes Cole my second. I’m pretty new to a lot of this…stuff.”

  “That is so romantic,” Paige said as she blotted her eyes.

  “Do you have your color picked out?” The nail technician asked as she sat down by Sam’s feet.

  “Yes. Siren red.”

  Chapter 13

  If she could skip over any day on the calendar it would be March twenty-eighth. Tuesday marked the five-year anniversary of Adam and Abigail’s deaths. Her mother was the first to call to wish Sam well. Her brothers all followed suit that morning. They must have planned when each would call as the four phone calls were each exactly an hour apart.

  For the past five years her family took time off work to make sure someone was with her all day long. They did the same on Abigail’s birthday, Adam’s birthday, and her wedding anniversary. They offered to come up to be with her this year, but since they were coming on Saturday for the party, Sam assured them she’d be fine and that she’d see them in a few days.

  After stopping by to see the new tenants on Pine Street, she picked up Levi and brought him back home for lunch. She contemplated taking him to the movies but nothing G rated was playing. There wasn’t enough snow left to go sledding or to build a snowman, just enough to make the playground a muddy mess.

  They decided on a movie marathon at home and changed into their pajamas and silly slippers. Levi wore his Yoda ones and Sam donned her Smurfette slippers her brother Barrett gave her for Christmas last year.

  Halfway through Alvin and the Chipmunks the doorbell rang. Hoping her family didn’t drive three hours north to surprise her, she reluctantly opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Emma.

  “Aren’t you adorable? Love the Tweety-bird pajama pants. Awesome slippers, girlfriend.” Emma shrugged off her coat and plopped herself on the couch where Sam had been sitting next to Levi. “Dude, you’re so rocking Yoda. Mason would love them. Do you think they’d fit him?”

  “No, silly. These are for kids.” Levi giggled.

  “Do you know where I can get grownup ones? Or maybe Darth Vader slippers? Mason absolutely loves Star Wars.”

  “Careful, Emma. You’re opening a can of worms here. Once he starts, he doesn’t stop.”
r />   “Do you know Aniken Skywalker is also Dark Vader?” Levi asked.

  “Isn’t that amazing? Someone so cute as a kid can grow up to be such a bully. You won’t do that, will you?” Emma reached over and helped herself to the popcorn.

  “Once upon a time there was a boy. He was ah…uh, a pod racer. His name was Aniken Skywalker. I want to be a pod racer too. That would be a fun job.”

  Sam shook her head and sighed as she watched another fall victim to Levi’s constant questioning and storytelling. The familiar knock on the front door brought flutters to her belly. It was too soon for Cole to be done with his work, especially after taking the weekend off, but she knew his distinctive knock.

  She licked her lips and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. Beaming brightly she opened the door. “Hello stranger.”

  “Your legs must be tired because you've been running through my mind all night.” He lowered his mouth to hers, looked behind her, and then gave her a feathery, light kiss on the cheek and produced a gorgeous bouquet of stargazer lilies.

  “Cole! They’re beautiful.” She breathed in the deep, pungent scent of the flowers. “Thank you. I didn’t expect to see you so soon,” she said as she backed in the house and closed the door behind him.

  “Hey, big guy. No nap today?” Cole strolled over to the couch and sat on the other side Levi, helping himself to some of the popcorn.

  “Mommy and I are watching movies in our jammies. Emma likes Star Wars too but she doesn’t know how the Emperor became the Emperor. What does the Emperor look like when he’s not the Emperor?”

  “Sorry,” Sam said to Cole. “He’s on a roll right now.”

  “I have a Star Wars encyclopedia somewhere at home. My daddy gave it to me when I was little. I’ll see if I can find it for you, okay?”

  “What’s a sy-lo-peda?” Levi asked as he shoveled more popcorn in his mouth.

  “It’s a book that has a lot of answers about Star Wars.”